Inter coast to Europa win in Croatia

By Eurosport

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Last update The 03/08/2012 at 03:52 - Published on 03/08/2012 at 11:42

By Eurosport - The 03/08/2012 at 03:52

Wesley Sneijder set Inter Milan on their way to a comfortable 3-0 win away at Hajduk Split in Europa League qualifying, giving the Serie A side a successful start in their first competitive game of the season.

Dutchman Sneijder rifled Inter ahead after 18 minutes and Japan's Yuto Nagatomo put them 2-0 up against the Croatian side just before the break.

Brazilian Philippe Coutinho completed the scoring in the second half of the third qualifying round first-leg tie.

"It's a good result but what I liked was the fact that we never stopped trying to play football and we gave very little away," Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni said.

Inter are hoping to recover from a difficult last season when Stramaccioni, initially given the job on an interim basis, became the third coach to be employed by club president Massimo Moratti.

In other ties, Marseille were held to a 1-1 draw by Turkey's Eskisehirspor, Bundesliga side Hannover beat St. Patrick's Athletic 3-0 in Dublin and last season's beaten finalists Athletic Bilbao downed Croatia's Slaven Belupo Koprivnica 3-1 at home.